Adolf Hitler&#039;s Table Talk-1941-1944

630 FOREIGN DIPLOMATS IN

630 FOREIGN DIPLOMATS IN BERLIN man, if only he would eat a little more, put on a small tummy, and dress appropriately. He said to me: "I have no idea what to do when I get to Madrid. But I'll do my best for Germany." History is a most untrustworthy guide. The Bulgarians are now behaving as if the developments in the Balkans were all the results of their own decisive action. In reality, Boris, caught between his cupidity on the one side and his cowardice on the other, was so hesitant that the strongest intervention on our part was necessary to make him do anything at all. Old Ferdinand wrote some very straight letters, too, pointing out that the hour of Bulgaria's destiny had struck. These Balkan people are quite extraordinary, and they have an astonishing gift for languages. There were some curious characters among the diplomats accredited to Berlin. The Dutchman, who had a young and beautiful wife, was concerned chiefly with fussing and watching over his ewe-lamb, and he was in a fever if any man spoke to her! The Rumanian, on the other hand, was, to say the least of it, most open-minded in this respect! He seemed to adopt the attitude that one little peccadillo more or less doesn't make much odds. His lady slept sixteen hours a day and retained an astonishingly youthful appearance. One day she introduced me to a middle-aged lady—her daughter! Then there was a Royal Highness, a Princess from Iran; she was a real baggage! She was taking lessons in painting and had a new master every week! If ever there were a man who repelled me, it was the Belgian. He was a real hard-bitten scoundrel and a sly and cunning fox. Well, now we have him exactly where we want him; but at the time, in 1940, we committed a silly mistake, for which my own personal stupidity is responsible. We should, of course, have treated him as a prisoner of war. On the other hand, one must remember that his sister is the Crown Princess of Italy—the one charming and delightful woman in the whole Italian Court, and one who, alas, has been grossly maltreated there from the psychological point of view! Stalin is an anarchist educated in an ecclesiastical college! Our newspapers ought to ask whether he and Churchill sang psalms together in Moscow! I cannot help connecting in my

CHURCHILL-STALIN MEETING 631 mind Churchill's visit to Moscow with the affair of the last convoy. I think Churchill was expecting some important development and went to Moscow hoping to return with the prestige of a great feat accomplished. That they had some big project in view, I am convinced; otherwise, why should they have sent the Mediterranean Fleet to sea? If they had seized Crete, that would have been a grievous blow, for the possession of Crete is vital to the holding of the North African coast—as they themselves admit. Their project, whatever it was, was abandoned, I think because of the slight damage sustained by the three aircraft-carriers, for without adequate air cover, any big operation is not feasible. I am not at all sure that it would not be a good idea to publish a report that they had intended to attack Crete! I have a hunch that that was the intention. If they were carrying troops, we could be sure of it, for they have no need of troops in Malta. If it is true that they lost a battleship, that explains their hesitation. In Northern Norway we did not have any idea of their real intentions. It was before the Norwegian campaign—at the time of the Altmark outrage—that dear old Chamberlain said that I had missed the bus ! There are to-day a lot of very superstitious people in Britain, who consider that the case of the Duke of Windsor was a bad omen; for the King personifies the Empire. 291 16th August 1942, evening Britain prepares for war—Hats off to the French worker— Wehrmacht estimates—My struggle for success— Obstruction by Wehrmacht Chiefs and Schacht—Absorbing the unemployed—Conscription once more—Germany can tolerate even me! Churchill and his friends decided on war against us some years before 1939. I had this information from Lady Mitford; she and her sisters were very much in the know, thanks to their relationship with influential people. One day she suddenly exclaimed that in the whole of London there were only three anti-aircraft guns! Her sister, who was present, stared at her stonily and then said slowly: "I do not know whether Mosley is the right man, or even if he is in a position, to prevent a war between Britain and Germany."